A federal judge said that the Trump administration violated a court order after it deported several migrants to South Sudan despite the fact that they came from other countries.
US District Judge Brian E. Murphy on Tuesday ordered the White House to keep the deportees in US custody after the plane landed in Sudan in preparation for Wednesday’s emergency hearing. During the proceedings, the judge argued that the administration violated an injunction he put in place in April.
From The Associated Press:
In an emergency hearing he called to address reports that immigrants had been sent to South Sudan, Judge Brian E. Murphy in Boston said the eight migrants aboard the plane were not given a meaningful opportunity to object that the deportation could put them in danger. Minutes before the hearing, administration officials accused “activist judges” of advocating the release of dangerous criminals.
The group was flown out of the United States just hours after getting notice, leaving them no chance to contact lawyers who could object in court.
Government attorneys argued that the men had a history with the immigration system, giving them prior opportunities to express a fear of being deported to a country outside their homeland. They also said that immigration authorities may have misunderstood the order because the judge did not specify the time needed between notice and deportation.
The migrants came from Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar, and Vietnam. Todd Lyons, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), claimed these countries refused to take back all of their deported citizens. “These represent the true national security threats,” he said during a news conference. He further claimed the men had been convicted of serious crimes such as rape, homicide, armed robberty, and others, according to The Associated Press.
🚨 #BREAKING: The Trump administration sent criminal aliens to South Sudan, from Texas, convicted of crimes including child r*pe, m*rder, r*pe of a handicapped person and more...
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) May 21, 2025
...and a judge in Massachusetts is now trying to BRING THEM BACK.
NO country would accept them… pic.twitter.com/W6t4g1PHWg
Madison Sheahan, the ICE Deputy Director, told reporters, “We see activist judges stepping in in a way that we have never seen before, to put criminals first and not the American people.”
Judge Murphy previously ruled that the White House would be required to provide deportees with notice — especially if they are being sent to countries that are not their home countries. They are to be given 15 days to challenge their deportation. That did not happen in this case.
Others have argued that sending migrants to a war-torn country like Sudan is cruel. The nation has been ravaged by civil war, and militia groups routinely torture, extort, and kill civilians.
Deportations to dangerous places that aren't someone's country of origin just seem cruel.https://t.co/SftgBCgOkn pic.twitter.com/8P0UvLTRKl
— Neal McCluskey (@NealMcCluskey) May 21, 2025
Meanwhile, it appears the South Sudanese government isn’t on board with the Trump administration’s idea. Local authorities indicated that no migrants had yet arrived in the country, The New York Post responded. Maj. Gen. James Monday Enoka explained that if any migrants did arrive, the authorities would investigate them and they would be “re-deported to their correct country” if they are not from South Sudan.